A new genus of syringophilid mites (Acari: Cheyletoidea: Syringophilidae) from cuculiform birds (Aves: Cuculiformes)

Cuculisyringophilus crotophaginus gen. n. et sp. n. is described from the guira cuckoo Guira guira (Gmelin) from Paraguay and also was collected from the groove-billed ani Crotophaga sulcirostris Swainson from Colombia and Mexico. This new genus is closely related to Neoaulobia Fain, Bochkov et Mironov, 2000 but is distinguished by the following characters: propodosomal setae sce are situated distinctly anterior to level of setae d1, leg setae vs'II are absent, apodemes I are divergent.     

Ewingana (Doreyana) baekelandae, sp. n., a parasite of molossid bats in Spain (Acari: Myobiidae).

Ewingana (Doreyana) baekelandae sp. n. (Acari: Myobiidae) is described on the basis of several adults and immatures collected on Tadarida (T.) teniotis from the province of Teruel, Spain. The species is a Palearctic representative of the evolutive line nanula Fain and digitata Fain. Differences within these species are observed in the female genito-anal area and in the shape and size of leg I, both in adults and in immatures.     

Two myobiid mites (Myobiidae: Trombidiformes) from the Great Himalaya Mountains).

In the region of the Barun Glacier, in the vicinity of the Makalu Mountain in the Great Himalaya (Nepal) two mite species of the family Myobiidae, Protomyobia kounickyi sp. n. and Radfordia lemnina (C. L. Koch, 1841) were found on Soriculus caudatus soluensis (Gruber) and Alticola roylei (Gray) respectively at high altitudes (3450--4900 m). A single specimen of the latter species slightly differs from specimens from the typical host, Clethrionomys glareolus (Schreber), in a greater length of l4 and d5 and in the form of coxal setae I, but it is not regarded as a different taxon.     

Chigger mites (Acari: Trombiculidae) from wild birds in Costa Rica, with a description of three new species

Three new species of chigger mites, Eutrombicula costaricensis sp. n., Eutrombicula passerinoruni sp. n., and Eutrombicula hectochaeta sp. n. are described from wild birds from Costa Rica. Two species, Eutrombicula pacae (Floch et Fauran, 1957) and Parasecia findata (Brennan, 1969), are recorded for the first time in Costa Rica and on new host species. Data on the distribution of Blankaartia sinnamaryi (Floch et Fauran, 1956) in Costa Rica are also reported.     

Chimaerula bonai sp. n. (Cestoda: Dilepididae) from the bare-faced ibis, Phimosus infuscatus (Lichtenstein) (Aves: Threskiornithidae) in Paraguay

Chimaerula bonai sp. n. is described from the small intestine of Phimosus infuscatus (Lichtenstein) in Paraguay. The new species differs from the other two species of Chimaerula Bona, 1994, i.e., Chinmaerula woodlandi (Prudhoe, 1960) and Chinmaerula leonovi (Belogurov et Zueva, 1968), mainly by the intermediate number of rostellar hooks (30-34 compared to 42-46 in the former and 20-22 in the latter), longer rostellar hooks (31-34 microm versus 26 microm and 19-21 microm, respectively), shorter cirrus sac (58-82 microm versus 158-201 microm and 134-183 microm, respectively) and the absence of rosethorn spines in the cirrus armament. Modifications in the generic diagnosis of Chimaerula are proposed in order to conform it with some peculiarities of the new species (i.e., the relatively small and thin cirrus, the absence of rosethorn spines in its armament and the small cirrus sac).     

A new genus of capillariids from birds, Tridentocapillaria gen. n. (Nematoda: Capillariidae)

A new genus of the family Capillariidae, Tridentocapillaria gen. n., has been established. A type species is Tridentocapillaria tridens (Dujardin, 1845) comb. n. Other species of this genus are T. eurycerca (Oschmarin et Parukhin, 1963) comb. n., T. parusi (Wakelin, Schmidt et Kuntz, 1970) comb. n., and T. javanensis (Wakelin, Schmidt et Kuntz, 1971) comb. n. The new genus is characterized by the presence of a trilobed pseudobursa formed by three processes, and a vulvar appendage is always present in females. The genus includes species parasitic in the intestine of birds of the orders Passeriformes and Piciformes.     

Lamellodiscus (Monogenea: Diplectanidae) parasites of Dentex macrophthalmus (Teleostei: Sparidae) from the North Atlantic coast of Africa, with a redescription of L. dentexi Aljoshkina, 1984, and description of three new species

Lamellodiscus dentexi Aljoshkina, 1984, a gill parasite of Dentex macrophthalmus (Bloch), is redescribed based on new material from the northwest coast of Africa (Senegal and Morocco). Three new species of Lamellodiscus Johnston et Tiegs, 1922 from D. macrophthalmus are described, Lamellodiscus toguebayei sp. n., L. vicinus sp. n., and L. triacies sp. n., all belonging to the "ignoratus" group. They can be distinguished from all other species of this group by the size and shape of male copulatory organ and sclerotised parts of the haptor. Considering the peculiar morphology of the male copulatory organ (long and thin tube) we propose to put together L. dentexi, L. virgula Euzet et Oliver, 1967 and L. obeliae Oliver, 1973 to form the "elongatus" type within the "elegans" group.     

Descriptions of two new freshwater neotropical species of Rhinebothrium (Cestoda: Rhinebothriidea) from Potamotrygon motoro (Chondrichthyes: Potamotrygonidae)

Two new species of Rhinebothrium (Cestoda, Rhinebothriidea) from potamotrygonid stingrays in the Neotropical region are herein described, which raises the total number of Rhinebothrium species known from Neotropical freshwaters to five. Rhinebothrium corbatai sp. n., and Rhinebothrium mistyae sp. n. were both collected from Potamotrygon motoro (Müller et Henle), captured in four tributaries of the Paraná River in Santa Fé Province, Argentina. The new species can be distinguished from their congeners, and from each other, by a combination of various features, including worm size (length and number of proglottids), number of loculi per bothridium, microthrix pattern, size of the cirrus sac, and the extent of the vas deferens. The discovery of these new species from P. motoro supports the pattern of high host specificity in this cestode genus, and reinforces the notion that some of the previous records of the enigmatic R. paratrygoni may correspond to new species of Rhinebothrium yet to be described.     

Prosorhynchus maternus sp. n. (Digenea: Bucephalidae) from the Malabar grouper Epinephelus malabaricus (Perciformes: Serranidae) off New Caledonia

A new species, Prosorhynchus maternus sp. n., is described from the serranid fish Epinephelus malabaricus (Bloch et Schneider) in the waters off New Caledonia. It belongs to a group of Prosorhynchus species from serranids in which the uterus is restricted to the postovarian region. Its distinguishing features include the vitellarium relatively distant from the rhynchus, the cirrus-sac relatively distant from the posterior testis, the distinctly pre-equatorial mouth and several other somatic ratios. New records of Prosorhynchus longisaccatus Durio et Manter, 1968 from Epinephelus cyanopodus (Richardson) and Prosorhynchoides lamprelli Bott et Cribb, 2005 from Caranx papuensis Alleyne et Macleay off New Caledonia are also included.     

The status of the Diplosentidae (Acanthocephala: Palaeacanthocephala) and a new family of acanthocephalans from Australian wrasses (Pisces: Labridae)

The status and composition of the Diplosentidae Tubangui et Masilu?gan, 1937 are reviewed. The type species of the type genus, Diplosentis amphacanthi Tubangui et Masilu?gan, 1937 from Siganus canaliculatus (Park, 1797) in the Philippines, is concluded to have been described inaccurately in supposedly possessing only two cement glands and lemnisci enclosed in a membranous sac. The species is almost certainly very close to species of Neorhadinorhynichus Yamaguti, 1939 and Sclerocollum Schmidt et Paperna, 1978 which have also been reported from siganids from the tropical Indo-Pacific. Species of these genera have four cement glands and unexceptional lemnisci. As a result, Diplosentis Tubangui et Masilu?gan, 1937 is best considered to have affinities with the Cavisomidae Meyer, 1932. The Cavisomidae has priority over the Diplosentidae; thus the Diplosentidae becomes a synonym of the Cavisomidae. Neorhadinorhynchus and Sclerocollum are considered synonyms of Diplosentis. The affinities of the other species and genera formerly included in the Diplosentidae (other species of Diplosentis, Allorhadinorhynchus Yamaguti, 1959, Amapacanthus Salgado-Maldonado et Santos, 2000, Pararhadinorhynchus Johnston et Edmonds, 1947, Golvanorhynchus Noronha, de Fábio et Pinto, 1978 and Slendrorhynchus Amin et Sey, 1996) are discussed. It is concluded that all but Pararhadinorhynchus, two species of Diplosentis and Amapacanthus can be accommodated elsewhere satisfactorily. A new family, Transvenidae, is proposed for a small group of acanthocephalans that genuinely possess only two cement glands. Transvena annulospinosa gen. n., sp. n. is described from the labrids Anampses neoguinaicus Bleeker, 1878 (type host), A. geographicus Valenciennes, 1840, A. caeruleopunctatus Rüppell, 1829, Hemigymnus fasciatus (Bloch, 1792), and H. melapterus (Bloch, 1791) from the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia. Transvena gen. n. is distinguished from all other acanthocephalan genera by having a combination of a single ring of small spines on its trunk near or at the junction between the neck and trunk, two cement glands, a double-walled proboscis receptacle and hooks which decrease in length from the apex to the base of the proboscis. A second new genus within the Transvenidae, Trajectura, is proposed for T. perinsolens sp. n. from Anampses neoguinaicus, also from the Great Barrier Reef. Trajectura gen. n. is distinguished by the possession of only two cement glands and an anterior conical projection (function unknown) on the females. Diplosentis ikedai Machida, 1992 shares these characters and is recombined as Trajectura ikedai comb. n. Pararhadinorhynchus is transferred to the Transvenidae and Diplosentis manteri Gupta et Fatma, 1979 is recombined as Pararhadinorhynchus manteri comb. n.     

Two new nematode species, Paragendria papuanensis sp. n. (Seuratoidea) and Rhabdochona papuanensis sp. n. (Thelazioidea), from freshwater fishes in Papua New Guinea

Two new nematode species, Paragendria papuanensis sp. n. (Quimperiidae) and Rhabdochona papuanensis sp. n. (Rhabdochonidae), are described from the intestine of freshwater fishes Glossamia giellerupi (Weber et Beaufort) (Apogonidae) and Melanotaenia affinis (Weber) (Melanotaeniidae), respectively, from the Sogeram River (Ramu River basin), Madang Province, northern Papua New Guinea. The former species is characterized mainly by the absence of oesophageal teeth, the presence of conspicuously inflated papillae of the last two subventral pairs, a gubernaculum, spicules 69-75 microm long, eggs measuring 57-66 x 39-45 microm, and by a small body (male and female 3.2-3.7 and 5.8 mm long, respectively). Paragendria is considered a valid genus, to which P. aori (Khan et Yaseen, 1969) comb. n., P. guptai (Gupta et Masoodi, 2000) comb. n., P. hanumanthai (Gupta et Jaiswal, 1988) comb. n. and P. vermae (Gupta et Masoodi, 2000) comb. n. are newly transferred. Rhabdochona papuanensis differs from all congeners mainly in having hammer-shaped deirids and from individual species also in other characters. Both findings represent the first records of species of Paragendria and Rhabdochona from the Australian zoogeographical region and the first records of the representatives of these genera from fishes of the families Apogonidae and Melanotaeniidae, respectively.     

Ophiotaenia bonneti sp. n. (Eucestoda: Proteocephalidea), a parasite of Rana vaillanti (Anura: Ranidae) in Costa Rica

Ophiotaenia bonneti sp. n. is described from the intestine of the frog Rana vaillanti Brocchi, 1877 (Anura: Ranidae) from San Gerardo, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The new species is characterized by the testes 100-177 in number, the genital pores situated anteriorly, the osmoregulatory canals overlapping the testis field, the cirrus pouch length as 15-24% of proglottis width, and the uterus with 18-32 ramified diverticula on each side. It differs from the 23 known species of the genus Ophiotaenia La Rue, 1911, parasitic in amphibians, by one to several morphological characters. It differs from O. gracilis Jones, Cheng et Gillespie, 1958, the most morphologically similar species, in the sucker diameter in % of scolex diameter and in the morphology of the eggs - funnel-like depression and embryophore closely investing the oncosphere in O. gracilis. We generally observe a very low mean prevalence of the Proteocephalidea in Neotropical amphibians (about 0.41%-3%), but in the case of some host species, the prevalence can reach up to 25%. We conclude that these cestodes exhibit a strict host specificity of the oioxene type. Ophiotaenia junglensis Srivastava et Capoor, 1980 is considered a species inquirenda. Batrachotaenia hernandezi (Flores-Barroeta, 1955) becomes Ophiotaenia hernandezi (Flores-Barroeta, 1955) comb. n., B. tigrina (Woodland, 1925) becomes O. tigrina (Woodland, 1925) comb. n. and B. ceratophryos (Parodi et Widakowich, 1916) becomes O. ceratophryos (Parodi et Widakowich, 1916) comb. n.     

Two new gonad-infecting Philometra species (Nematoda: Philometridae) from the marine fish Lutjanus vitta (Perciformes: Lutjanidae) off New Caledonia

Two new gonad-infecting species of Philometra Costa, 1845 (Philometridae), P. brevicollis sp. n. and P. mira sp. n., are described from the ovary of the brownstripe red snapper, Lutjanus vitta (Quoy et Gaimard) (Lutjanidae, Perciformes), from the South Pacific Ocean off the coast of New Caledonia. Based on light and scanning electron microscopy examination, these new nematodes are compared with all other gonad-infecting species of Philometra. The former species (males and mature and gravid females available) mainly differs from its congeners in the length of males (5.39-5.92 mm), equally long spicules (279-312 microm), and the gubernaculum (151-168 microm), in that the distal end of the gubernaculum bears dorsolateral transverse lamella-like structures, and in the structure of the male caudal end. The latter species (only males available) is characterized by the length of males (3.47-3.66 mm), equally long spicules (96-105 microm), and the gubernaculum (78-84 microm), the absence of a dorsal reflected barb or lamella-like structures on the distal end of gubernaculum, and by the structure of the male caudal end. Judging from the occurrence in the host, P. brevicollis is the main philometrid parasitizing the gonads of L. vitta, in which it can reproduce, whereas this fish probably serves as only the paradefinitive host for P. mira. Both P. brevicollis and P. mira are the first nominal species of Philometra described from fishes of the family Lutjanidae.     

Cucullanus oceaniensis sp. n. (Nematoda: Cucullanidae) from Pacific eels (Anguilla spp.)

A new species of parasitic nematode, Cucullanus oceaniensis sp. n., is described from the intestine of the giant mottled eel Anguilla marmorata (type host) from Futuna Island (Wallis and Futuna Islands, Polynesia) and from A. marmorata and Anguilla sp. (cf. obscura) from Fiji Islands (Melanesia, South Pacific). The main distinguishing characteristics are the length of spicules (668-1,020 microm), situation of deirids (slightly anterior to the oesophago-intestinal junction) and the excretory pore (some distance posterior to the end of oesophagus), and the arrangement of caudal papillae in the male. It is the third known species of Cucullanus from Oceania and the first one reported from freshwater eels in the region of South Pacific. Cucullanus faliexae Morand et Rigby, 1998 is considered a junior synonym of Cucullanus australiensis Baylis, 1927.     

Taxonomical study into two new species of Philometra (Nematoda: Philometridae) previously identified as Philometra lateolabracis (Yamaguti, 1935)

Males of the nematode Philometra lateolabracis (Yamaguti, 1935), the type species of the genus Philometra Costa, 1845, were discovered for the first time in gonads of its type host, the Japanese seaperch, Lateolabraxjaponicus (Cuvier). Morphological comparisons carried out between the collected male and female P. lateolabracis with the male and female philometrid nematodes previously reported as P. lateolabracis infecting chicken grunt, Parapristipoma trilineatum (Thunberg), and red sea bream, Pagrus major (Temminck et Schlegel), revealed that the latter represent two new species, Philometra isaki sp. n. and Philometra madai sp. n., respectively. Molecular comparison of ITS2 rDNA between P. lateolabracis and P. madai supported the morphological conclusion that the two nematodes obtained from different fish species should be assigned to different species.     

Rhabdochona minima sp. n. (Nematoda: Spiruroidea) from the loach, Noemacheilus inglisi (Hora), of Nepal.

A new nematode species, Rhabdochona minima sp.n., is described from the intestine of Noemacheilus inglisi (HORA) OF Nepal (River Ganges drainage system). Characteristics features of this species (only males were found) are the small size of body, size and type of spicules, shape of tail and arrangement of caudal papillae. On the basis of its morphology, R. minima sp.n. belongs to the subgenus Globochona sensu Moravec, 1975. The species Rhabdochona cavasius Rehana et Bilqees, 1973 is considered to be a synonym of R. mazedi Prassad et Sahay, 1965.     

Philometroides africanus sp. n. (Nematoda: Philometridae), a new tissue parasite of the African pike Hepsetus odoe (Pisces) in Botswana.

A new species of philometrid nematode, Philometroides africanus sp. n., is described from female specimens found encapsulated in gill arches and inner surface of gill covers of the African pike, Hepsetus odoe (Bloch), an endemic freshwater fish in Africa, from the Okavango River and Delta in Botswana. This new nematode is characterised mainly by a markedly small and plump body of gravid females (body length 6-9 mm), a separate anterior oesophageal bulb, a conspicuously small oesophageal gland, presence of four pairs of very small submedian cephalic papillae, and absence of any caudal processes. The prevalence of P. africanus in African pike of the Okavango Delta was 29%, with the intensity 1-8 (mean 3) encapsulated nematodes per fish. The genus Margolisianum Blaylock et Overstreet, 1999 is considered a junior synonym of Philometroides Yamaguti, 1935 and, consequently, its type species is transferred to the latter as Philometroides bulbosus (Blaylock et Overstreet, 1999) comb. n.     

Anuretes grandis sp. n., a caligid copepod (Siphonostomatoida) parasitic on Diagramma pictum (Pisces) in Taiwan, with discussion of Anuretes Heller, 1865

A new species of caligid copepod (Siphonostomatoida), Anuretes grandis sp. n., parasitic on the painted sweetlips [Diagramma pictum (Thunberg)] in Taiwan is described. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by having: (1) free margin of cephalothorax not covering fourth pediger, (2) large genital complex longer than 2/3 of the cephalic shield, (3) no maxillary whip, (4) leg 3 with 9 setae on the terminal segment of exopod and 8 plumose setae on the terminal segment of endopod, and (5) armature of I,III on leg 4 exopod. Genus Anuretes Heller, 1865 is reviewed and redefined. Based on the new diagnosis three species (A. chelatus Prabha et Pillai, A. fedderni Price and A. parvulus Wilson) were transferred to Pseudanuretes, and two species (A. furcatus Capart and A. renalis Heegaard) were transferred to Lepeophtheirus. In addition, the following three species of caligids were transferred to Anuretes: Lepeophtheirus fallolunulus Lewis, Heniochophilus indicus Pillai, and Lepeophtheirus rotundigenitalis Prabha et Pillai. The latter is renamed Anuretes occultus nom. n. due to the homonym encountered through this transfer. "Anuretes plectorhynchi Yamaguti" reported by Prabha and Pillai (1986) is renamed Anuretes similis sp. n. and Anuretes yamagutii Prabha et Pillai is relegated to the synonym of Anuretes anomalus Pillai. A key to the 18 species of Anuretes is provided.